Moonlight and Blood Ties
by La Fuego
Summary: Fuji is the hunter, Tezuka is the prey. But in an existence where there are more questions than answers, in a world where some existences are shrouded in mystery, nothing is ever that simple. Vampire AU TeFu, eventual SanaYuki and maybe even OshiAto
1. Prologue

**Title:** Moonlight and Blood Ties  
**Genre:** Vampire AU, Romance, Drama  
**Pairing:** Tezuka/Fuji (But Fuji OWNS this prologue, so he's the only one headlining in this one), eventual SanaYuki, and maybe even OshiAto  
**Disclaimers:** This fanfic is borne solely from the unique kind of psychosis that inspired it. So yeah, I grabbed the plot bunny, therefore, it is mine. The characters, however, are Konomi-sensei's and he ain't about to sell the rights to them any time soon.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Summary:** Fuji is hunter, Tezuka is prey. But in an existence where there are more questions than answers, in a world where some entities are shrouded in mystery, nothing is ever that simple.  
**Author's Notes:** The idea for this fic came from a convo I had with **vierblith** where she said that she has yet to read a decent TeFu Vampire AU. So Ekay-chan, until you come upon that TeFu Vampire AU to end all TeFu Vampire AU's, I hope this one tides you over in the meantime. Oh, and yeah, Happy Birthday! ^_^

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**Prologue**

_His keen blue eyes looked up at the distant full moon, as gentle winds toyed with his dark honey colored locks. The sound of the waves crashing against the rocks beneath the cliff and the sharp tang of salt in the air surrounded him, and yet, the boy seemed oblivious to it all. His lithe, waif-like figure looked ethereal in its beauty, bathed as it was in silver moonbeams, when viewed against the backdrop of the dark sea with its grayish-white foam._

_"Shuusuke," a gentle, lilting voice called out to him._

_"Nee-san," he acknowledged without looking._

_"Let's go back to the manor and get you ready. You have to feed," Fuji Yumiko entreated her younger brother._

_Fuji Shuusuke turned his head to look at his older sister and Yumiko couldn't help but draw in a breath at the sight of her brother. With her wavy russet brown hair, steel grey eyes, and full, sensual lips, Yumiko was by no means ugly; but she still believed that she cannot hold a candle to her brother. The way he was looking at her at that moment, his brooding eyes, so unlike that of any other child's, studying her with an odd mixture of vulnerability and defiance and curiosity and detachment, his hair being playfully tossed about by the wind, his skin appearing almost luminescent under the moonlight, and his stance screaming of loneliness and aloofness, drew in whoever looked upon him._

_Yes, Fuji Shuusuke looked like a young pagan god: beautiful, untamed, untouchable. But he was as far from divine as he could get. And they both knew it._

_"Come," Yumiko coaxed as she held out her hand to her brother in invitation. He turned around to fully face his older sister, looked at her proffered hand, and hesitated. A familiar frown was settling on his features once again and Yumiko understood. She smiled reassuringly. "Come, Shuusuke. It's alright. It's okay to be different."_

"Nee-san," Fuji called out as he suddenly sat up in bed, his hand reaching for the hand that was no longer there.

He sighed in defeat, outstretched hand uselessly dropping back to his side, and bowed his head. It's been a while since he last dreamt of his sister and by rights, he really shouldn't be dwelling on thoughts of her now. His sister would not approve.

He got up from his bed and went to open a window. He breathed in deeply of the evening air, taking in the different scents intermingled with each other, trying to identify each scent individually, as he fought to clear his mind from thoughts of his sister… and the past.

Fuji looked up at the newly risen new moon, so different from the magnificent full moon of that long ago night.

_Come, Shuusuke. It's alright. It's okay to be different._

Yes, Fuji Shuusuke was different. He may look like a typical twenty-eight year old, if verging on the baby-faced kind of twenty-eight year old, but he was, in actuality, over a hundred years old. One hundred and six, to be exact.

Fuji Shuusuke was a vampire. But even among vampires, Fuji was an oddity. While other vampires can feed on pretty much anything with warm blood, Fuji had a unique condition that limited his feeding choices considerably. He could only feed on humans that feel intensely for him. Fear verging on terror, extreme hate, infatuation – these are some of the emotions that a human must feel for him before he could feed on their blood. Otherwise, he's displayed varying adverse reactions to taking in "unaffected blood", as he'd come to call them, from mild allergies – rashes and itching – to symptoms of food poisoning, in extreme cases.

When he was much younger, he hated the fact that he couldn't feed normally like the other vampires and thus, refused to feed at all. It was always his sister who sweet-talked him into feeding when she knew he needed to. During those times, Yumiko would dress up her younger brother in adorable little girls' kimonos and then take him to some random town's busy night district where Shuusuke was then instructed to pretend like he was a lost little girl, separated from her parent. Inevitably, there would always be some sympathetic soul who would feel intensely sorry for the "little girl" and would spend the better part of the night listening to Shuusuke's practiced sob story, losing his/her heart to the poor waif with each sentence, and later on, agreeing to go with the blue-eyed boy as he searched down dark alleys for his "parent".

Of course, throughout these night excursions, Yumiko was never far from her brother, always staying to the shadows, silently watchful. There had been times when Shuusuke had been picked up by people with slightly less noble intentions than helping out a poor lost child, after all, and for those times, Yumiko always made sure that those people never got to see daylight ever again.

Through the years, Shuusuke eventually learned to live with his "difference". It even became a bit of a joy when his younger brother, Yuuta, came along. When he was old enough to understand that his older brother's feeding needs were different, Yuuta proposed adding variety to Yumiko and Shuusuke's routine. Those days had been the trial-and-error period when the Fuji siblings found out which sort of intense emotions Shuusuke could feed off of. And those were also the days when the middle Fuji sibling became intimately acquainted with the different reactions his body had to blood that it had no liking for.

One of Fuji's fondest memories of those days was that time when they discovered that the blue-eyed boy could work with intense fear. As per Yuuta's request, Yumiko dressed up Shuusuke in tattered old clothes. Yuuta then shoved a tankard of blood at his older brother and instructed him to gargle with it and then let it all drip out of his mouth and down his clothes. Shuusuke looked at his younger brother as though Yuuta had lost his mind. The youngest Fuji grinned mischievously at his brother and said, "Just trust me on this, aniki!" And then he added, "The messier you make it, the better!"

He looked dubiously at the tankard but did as he was instructed, anyway. Yumiko had a fair idea of what Yuuta had in mind and so stood by quietly as Yuuta ran his hands through his brother's hair, making it as messy as it could get. Later that night, with Shuusuke looking like something that's just been dug out from the cemetery, they chanced upon a pair of young lovers in a secluded area of the woods just beside the sea. The young couple took one look at Shuusuke's appearance and fainted dead away. Yuuta was so proud of the success of his idea that he helped himself to the young man as his brother fed from the young woman.

Those days had been so long ago. And since then, Shuusuke has learned one interesting thing: out of all the emotions that he had tasted, attraction, infatuation had been the best… and it filled him so well that it took much longer than usual before he felt the need to feed again.

Come to think of it, it's about time he went out in search of a prey again. With one last look at the new moon, Fuji pushed himself away from the window and started getting ready for a night of hunting.

TBC  
La Fuego  
11/13/2008


	2. Chapter 1: The meeting

**Title:** Moonlight and Blood Ties  
**Chapter:** 1/?  
**Genre:** Vampire AU, Romance, Drama  
**Fandom:** Prince of Tennis  
**Pairing:** Tezuka/Fuji, eventual SanaYuki, and maybe even OshiAto  
**Disclaimers:** This fanfic is borne solely from the unique kind of psychosis that inspired it. So yeah, I grabbed the plot bunny, therefore, it is mine. The characters, however, are Konomi-sensei's and he ain't about to sell the rights to them any time soon.  
**Summary:** Fuji is the hunter, Tezuka is the prey. But in an existence where there are more questions than answers, in a world where some entities are shrouded in mystery, nothing is ever that simple.  
**Author's Notes:** The first chapter to **vierblith**'s gift fic. I know I said I'd update earlier in the week, but my procrastination tendencies worked hand in hand with my perfectionism and delayed the completion of this first chapter like crazy! Rating has been upped from T to M, just to be safe. You'll probably understand when you read... Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!

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[1] _Naughty but Nice_ is an actual cocktail mix made up of 0.5 shot of Disaronno Amaretto, 0.5 shot of Peach Schnapps, 1 shot of Amarula Cream, and 1 shot of Cream.

[2] _Schadenfreude_ is a term usually defined as finding a largely unanticipated delight or amusement in the suffering of others. The word is of Germanic origins; _Schaden_ (damage, harm) and_Freude_ (joy). So basically, what Ooishi was saying here was that he went to see Tezuka specifically to laugh at his misery.

[3] _Golden Week_ is a collection of four national holidays in Japan within seven days. These holidays would include Showa Day (Apr. 29), which is the birthday of the former Emperor Showa,Constitution Day (May 3), Greenery/Nature Day (May 4), and Children's Day (May 5).

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**Chapter 1**

Tezuka Kunimitsu braced his hands on either side of the sink basin as he bowed his head and let the water drip down from his face. He could hear the music blaring from the other side of the door as several patrons exited the washroom, leaving him alone. After a few moments, he raised his head to look at his face in the mirror; through the fringes of his chestnut brown hair, golden hazel eyes stared frankly back at him even as his strong, angular chin unconsciously jutted out in a pose of silent defiance. It had been a tough couple of weeks.

The university where he was teaching as an associate professor in the Science Department had been asked to play host to a group of foreign exchange students who would be staying in the campus dormitories for an entire month. In the usual Japanese bid to make an unrealistically good impression on their guests, Hanamura-sensei, the full professor that Tezuka usually assisted, had been given the task to spearhead the preparation plans. The end result: the bulk of Hanamura-sensei's academic workload has been entrusted to the hazel-eyed associate professor. And as if he didn't have enough to worry about, the periodic phone calls he got from his mother did not help any. If he still had to deal with the grief his family gave him about his sexual orientation on an almost daily basis anyway, then what was the point of his moving out?

With a sigh, Tezuka blindly reached for a couple of paper towels, wiped his face dry, and put his eyeglasses back on. He felt the world tilt to the side as he straightened up and realized that he probably shouldn't have drunk those last two glasses of cognac. He leaned on the sink for support for a moment and made a face at himself. This wasn't like him. It wasn't like him to be careless. It wasn't like him to let things get to him so much that he would over-indulge in alcohol. But well, there had to be a first time for everything. And now he knew for certain that he _never_ wanted to do this again. With a deep breath to clear his head somewhat, he pulled the door open to once again be one of the unnamed faces in the crowd.

The club was unusually crowded for a Tuesday night, but he supposed it was better that way – after all, there was no better place to maintain one's anonymous solitude than in the middle of a nameless crowd. People were less likely to pay attention to you in dimly lit, packed places… or so Tezuka thought as he headed towards the cluster of payphones at the corner, thinking of calling his best friend, Ooishi, to pick him up as he was in no condition to drive, casually looking around along the way. Unthinkingly casting his glance towards the dance floor, he saw _him_. Yes, people were less likely to pay attention to you in dimly lit, packed places…unless, of course, you really, _really_ stood out.

There, in the middle of the dance floor, was what some of Tezuka's students would have referred to as an "orgasm on legs". Wearing black leather pants so tight that he must have poured himself into them, heavy black boots, and a black mesh shirt that hid practically nothing, the vision on the dance floor was dancing with himself – and enjoying it immensely, by the look of things. His eyes were closed, body moving in time to the pounding beat, hips alternating between moving from side to side and going around in a provocative circle, and his hands moving sensuously over his own body, as though making love with himself. Every once in a while, someone would dare to dance with him, and for a few moments, he would graciously allow it, willowy arms seductively going around a neck or a waist, body sinfully enmeshed with his partner's – man or woman, he didn't seem to particularly care which – but then, he would turn away; abruptly, as if drawn away by some mysterious force within the music, he would disentangle himself from his partner and continue dancing as though waiting for someone who could keep in time with him.

Before he could even register what he was doing, Tezuka found himself walking and single-mindedly moving towards the proud beauty in the middle of the dance floor.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Fuji had his eyes closed and he let himself get lost in the sea of emotions he jumped into when he started dancing. At the turn of the decade, he found this method to be one of the most effective for hunting. From the all the bodies surrounding him, he concentrated on the strongest emotions he could detect, letting his body move to the music on its own.

But then, just ahead of him, he felt a sharp stab of resentment spike. Fuji looked through slanted eyes and took in the view of a young woman whose eyes were glaring pure malice at him. Well, if he couldn't find any better meal choices, perhaps her jealousy would do. Making sure that the woman could see his face clearly, Fuji looked at her through lowered lashes and gave her a smug smirk that clearly said, "_It's not my fault your boyfriend couldn't keep his eyes off me._" When he felt the resentment escalate to outright loathing, the sly vampire turned his back to her and gave a self-satisfied little smile.

And then, to his side, Fuji felt the timid poking of wanting. A pretty little red-head was giving him a come-hither look and, amused, the blue-eyed vampire decided to see just how much he could stoke that wanting into full-blown pining. Slinking behind the young woman, Fuji encircled her within his arms and started to move with her. A moment later, he saw a brief flash of white nothingness in his head and realized that the woman in his arms had blanked out. "_Sensory overload, huh?_" Fuji thought wryly to himself. "_Definitely not a good meal choice if she isn't even capable of handling this much stimulation._" He smoothly detached himself from the red-head and deftly swayed away, feeling the woman's dazed eyes staring dreamily after him.

A little while later, a blond haired man with pure lust burning in his eyes sidled up next to Fuji. Almost disinterestedly, the striking vampire swayed with his new partner just to see if there was more to the man than just lust – it didn't take long to see that there wasn't. Fuji moved on in search of the next possible meal candidate. Although lust actually made for pretty tasty blood, Fuji had learned not to opt for it for his meals. Relying on just lust for his "intense emotion" when feeding was pretty much like having cake for dinner: sweet and delectable, but hardly nourishing. He'd be hungry again in a few hours.

Fuji danced alone for the next two songs and he was starting to think that perhaps it was time to give up and move on to a different hunting ground (that is, a different club), when he was assaulted by the most powerful surge of desire he had ever felt in his life. A pair of strong, lean arms wound around his waist shortly thereafter, and with that warm body so close to his, Fuji picked up on other emotions that were initially masked by that fierce desire: deep curiosity, a touch of possessiveness, uncertainty, a burning attraction, and a bit of anger. Perfect! Without turning around, Fuji pressed against the body behind him and seductively reached up to entwine his arms around his partner's neck. That simple act fanned the emotions in his partner even more and Fuji had to throw back his head to rest against his partner's shoulder and bite back a moan of anticipation.

Tezuka looked down at his dance partner's enraptured face and found himself wanting the honey-haired man even more; he wanted to _possess_ the man. But he also felt the anger directed at himself magnify – this was not the kind of thing that Tezuka Kunimitsu did. He wondered if he could blame the alcohol for this behavior that was so out of his character… And then all mental functions ceased for the bespectacled man when he felt his partner grind his hips against Tezuka's. Fuji felt his partner stiffen in response but he was undaunted when he felt the attraction and desire increase as well. Slowly, provocatively, Fuji turned around in his partner's arms. In a maddeningly mesmerizing rhythm, Fuji undulated against his partner, blue eyes revealing themselves to throw a challenge at the bewildered hazel eyes looking down at them. _"Can you keep up with me?"_

Tezuka's eyes hardened in resolve at the challenge. He was definitely not going to lose this beauty as so many others have tonight. Tezuka adjusted his hold on the tempter in his arms to have his hands rest lightly on his partner's hips, and slowly, tentatively, Tezuka started to move. Fuji gave a small smile and let his hands slide down his partner's arms to rest over his partner's hands keeping them on his hips. The two of them easily fell into rhythm, moving together, pulling apart in a perfect mimicry of sex. The rest of the world fell away for Tezuka as he watched his partner hungrily. They moved together with ease, as though they have done this a thousand times before. Fuji gave his partner another one of those small, knowing smiles as one hand drifted back up to twine in the hair by his partner's nape. Subtly, Fuji tugged down and when his partner complied, the blue-eyed vampire stretched up to meet the other's lips in a greedy kiss. There was nothing gentle or timid about the kiss; just all tongue and wet heat and heady intoxication. Tezuka looked bemused when they drew apart. Fuji just looked plain amused.

Without saying a word, Fuji tugged at his partner's hand and nodded towards the bar. Tezuka nodded mutely and allowed himself to be led by the hand back to the corner of the bar he had occupied earlier that evening. When they reached the bar, Fuji only had to smile to get the bartender's attention.

"Haven't seen you here in a while," the silver-haired bartender said by way of greeting.

Fuji shrugged his shoulders and answered, "It's been a crazy month, Niou-kun. But you know I come here whenever I could."

"Indeed," the green-eyed man agreed. "So, what will you be having tonight?"

Fuji thought for a bit and opted for a cocktail with rye whiskey, brandy, and absinthe. "I'll have a sazerac," he answered with a wink. "And hold the lemon, please."

"And for the gentleman…?" Niou prompted, looking at Tezuka.

Fuji studied his companion for a few moments before replying, "_'Naughty but Nice'_[1]. I think a creamy cocktail would work best for him, don't you think so?"

The answering smile in the bartender's face made Tezuka think that there must have been a layer to that conversation that he didn't quite get, but decided to just shrug it off. More importantly, Tezuka thought, from the conversation he just witnessed, he was able to glean a couple of pertinent information: (1) that the blue-eyed charmer with him apparently was a regular of this club and was here often enough to be on friendly terms with the bartender, and (2) if he could order something with absinthe in it with relative impunity, then he must know how to hold his liquor.

As soon as the bartender turned his back to them to get started on their drinks, the blue-eyed man turned to Tezuka, resting his chin on a hand. "Fuji. Fuji Shuusuke," he introduced himself with a smile that made Tezuka's toes curl.

The man was wreaking havoc on his normally well-behaved libido and Tezuka was getting more than just a little annoyed. "Tezuka. Tezuka Kunimitsu," came the reply with a throat gone dry. Fuji gave a little chuckle as though he knew something that Tezuka didn't. The latter would have called Fuji on it had their drinks not arrived at that time.

Fuji took a sip of his cocktail and gave a little hum of appreciation. He turned to his companion only to find Tezuka staring at his drink contemplatively. "Don't like chocolate?" Fuji asked, referring to the chocolate shavings sprinkled on top of Tezuka's drink.

The hazel-eyed man's head snapped up to meet Fuji's gaze and shook his head. "No, it's not that," he replied with a wry smile. "It's just that I've already had several glasses of cognac tonight. I don't think it would be wise to drink any more."

"Oh," Fuji's eyes lighted up with understanding. "If it's about that, then don't worry. Just tell me where you live and I'll make sure you get home," he offered with a smile.

Tezuka smiled back and wondered what it was about this blue-eyed beauty before him that made him act contrary to his usual nature. With a resigned shake of his head, and more than just a little bit of incredulity at how much he was willing to trust this stranger, Tezuka handed over his car keys. "It's the '89 black sedan," he said before taking a mouthful of his drink.

Fuji accepted the keys with one of those inscrutable smiles. "So tell me more about you, Tezuka Kunimitsu."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The small grunt Tezuka gave as his unconscious form hit the bed brought another small smile to Fuji's lips. As promised, he brought Tezuka home safe and sound. Fuji took a moment to look around Tezuka's bedroom. It was clean, neat, and well-organized – if a bit on the minimalist side. Black and white was the general color theme for the room and it was comprised of little else aside from the queen-sized bed, a solid wooden work desk that held a desk lamp, a laptop, neatly stacked papers, and a mug with an assortment of writing instruments, and two bookshelves stood side-by-side in a corner that had books on almost every subject, but a majority of them seemed to be on Physics.

Fuji and Tezuka had been able to talk quite a bit before the latter finally succumbed to the effects of the alcohol. And from their conversation, Fuji learned quite a bit about the hazel-eyed associate professor. Fuji learned that Tezuka lives alone because his father and his grandfather couldn't quite come to terms with the fact that Kunimitsu will not be settling down with a _woman_. Fuji learned that attempts to mend the damaged relationship between the men in Tezuka's family meant nothing more than extended guilt trips, and that Tezuka's mother apparently made an excellent tour guide on those trips. Fuji learned that Tezuka didn't mind taking on responsibility. Fuji learned that Tezuka really, really enjoys teaching and chose Physics as his field of specialty because the first time he heard Newton's Laws of Motion, the world finally made sense to him. Fuji learned that Tezuka's best friend, Ooishi Shuuichiro, has been with him since they were in middle school and was the only person in Tezuka's life who didn't go weird on him when Tezuka came out…

Fuji looked down once again at Tezuka's relaxed face, eyeglasses long since deposited on the desk. The lithe vampire stretched out on his side beside Tezuka, one hand supporting his head, elbow digging into the space just beside Tezuka's head. Why he had been so interested in finding out about Tezuka, Fuji didn't want to look into too closely. Suffice to say, there was just something intriguing about the man and Fuji's curiosity was piqued.

Blue eyes narrowing contemplatively, Fuji's finger traced a path along Tezuka's jaw. That finger was soon joined by others as he trailed feather-light touches down Tezuka's throat and onto the expanse of chest bared by a half unbuttoned dress shirt. Unconscious and unfettered emotions came to the fore once more as Tezuka murmured a soft, "Fuji."

Eyes gleaming brighter than usual, Fuji dipped down his head and sank his fangs into Tezuka's bared neck. Only a slight moan was heard from Tezuka, and it was unclear whether it was from pain or pleasure. Fuji, on the other hand, gave a delighted little moan of his own. The flavors flooding into his mouth were quite unlike any he's had before. True, he's tasted attraction and anger and desire and confusion before, but… _"Interesting… Apparently, Tezuka Kunimitsu is a _very_ feeling person. His feels things deeper than the average person,"_ Fuji thought.

And of course, there was that touch of possessiveness – this would be the first time that Fuji's ever tasted it. And then there was a mysterious, unidentified taste; it was very, very mild –like a soup base that's not quite complete – and the flavor hinted that it could grow, develop, age into a full-bodied piquancy given time. Truly interesting.

Having had his fill, Fuji released Tezuka's neck, tenderly swiped his tongue at the punctures his teeth made, and watched as the wounds closed. Tezuka then gave a soft sigh, turned on his side, and burrowed deeper into sleep. Almost fondly, Fuji ran a hand through Tezuka's hair before getting up from the bed.

When he woke up the following day, the dizziness Tezuka felt would be more than just from a hang-over.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tezuka was woken up the following morning by sunlight hitting him square in the face. Blinking and squinting his eyes, he tried to get up but that action seemed to have set off a damned marching band – complete with crashing cymbals – in his head, and so he fell back down onto the bed with a miserable groan.

With one hand still on the curtains he just pushed aside to let in the stream of morning light, Ooishi Shuuichiro turned to look at the dismal picture his best friend presented. "Rise and shine, Tezuka!"

Tezuka rested one arm over his eyes to block out the offending brightness and only replied with a pitiful moan.

Ooishi shook his head at his friend. "That's what you get for being an idiot. Granted, this would be the first time you've been this much of an idiot, so I guess I shouldn't be teasing you about it."

Tezuka peeked at Ooishi from under his arm, and in a low, gravelly voice, said, "Remind me again why I thought giving you a spare key to my apartment was a good idea?"

Ooishi smiled tolerantly at the occupant of the bed. "Because you believe in planning ahead and although you wished it wouldn't come to this, you thought that one of these days, your family just might be able to drive you to drink and you thought I'd come in handy when that time comes."

Tezuka finally managed to gingerly sit up (without tripping the mechanism that activated the marching band in his head) and studied his long-time friend. The bright sunlight glinted off Ooishi's deep black hair and his expressive emerald green eyes were currently holding both traces of concern and amusement. The gentle smile playing on his lips softened the otherwise rigid line of his pointed chin. "What made you decide to come here this morning, anyway?" Tezuka asked rather bluntly.

"Schadenfreude[2]," Ooishi replied without missing a beat.

Tezuka raised an eyebrow at his friend. Ooishi's one of the kindest, most caring people Tezuka knew, but the former's rather unusual sense of humor often threw Tezuka off balance.

"I'm kidding!" Ooshi laughed. "I called you up several times last night, but I kept getting your machine, so I knew you went out. Your cellphone was turned off too…"

"I didn't want to get a call from my mother on the one night I wanted to get out and just let loose so I turned it off and left it at home," Tezuka stated flatly.

Already very familiar with Tezuka's family woes, Ooishi wisely refrained from making further comment on that situation. "Trust you to go out on a Tuesday night and get your first experience of getting thoroughly smashed just because university's out for Golden Week[3]," the green-eyed man teased instead.

"Hn," was Tezuka's grunted reply as he carefully eased himself out of bed and onto his feet. However, a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over him, and the marching band in his head returned in full force as soon as he took to his feet. Tezuka swayed unsteadily and Ooishi was by his side in a heartbeat.

"Are you alright?" the ebony-haired man asked in alarm as he firmly pushed Tezuka to sit back on the bed. A gentle but commanding hand grasped Tezuka's chin and tilted his face upward to allow Ooishi a better view as the latter examined first Tezuka's right eye, and then the left. And then, shifting his hold to grasp Tezuka's lower jaw, Ooishi swiveled his friend's face from left to right and then back again, tracking movement of Tezuka's pupils.

"Ooishi?" Tezuka said rather stiffly, as his friend's hold on his lower jaw did not provide the ideal conditions for talking.

"Yes?"

"I'm not a child."

"I know," Ooishi replied in a long-suffering voice. Content that there was nothing seriously wrong with his friend, the green-eyed man let go of Tezuka's face. "But just because I'm a pediatrician doesn't mean I only know how to deal with under-aged patients." And then he added worriedly, "Aside from last night's escapade, have you been getting enough sleep? Your inferior conjunctiva – that's what you call the part that you see when you pull down your eyebags – looks a little pale. You might be a little anemic."

Tezuka shook his head at his mother hen of a friend. "You worry too much, Ooishi. I'm sure it's just the hang-over that's got me like this. Which is all the more reason for me to never do that again."

"Well, if you're sure…" Ooishi reluctantly agreed. "I hope you managed to meet someone interesting last night, at least, to make up for that miserable hang-over you're nursing right now."

Flashes of blue eyes and sensual dances and searing kisses and stimulating conversation went through Tezuka's head. Well, if he's not getting insanely drunk ever again, there is _that_ reason to go back to that club, at least. Going clear across the other side of the city to lessen the possibility of meeting somebody who knew him (by 89.57% according to the Chemistry associate professor, Inui-sensei) just to de-stress himself paid off in ways Tezuka never expected. But all he said to his friend was a non-committal, "Perhaps."

Ooishi's eyes widened at that response. "You did!" he gasped out in accusation. "You met somebody! So tell me about him!" the young pediatrician demanded.

Tezuka shook his head and tried to delay the inevitable. "Let me get some hot tea into my system first."

"Fine. I'll go put on the kettle but you're telling me _everything_ once you've had your tea," Ooishi said through narrowed eyes.

"Hai, hai," Tezuka replied tiredly as he made to stand up once again. This time, it was Ooishi who held back his friend.

The green-eyed man looked quizzically at the general area of Tezuka's collar. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Tezuka just gave his friend a _'Huh?'_ kind of look.

Reaching out to get a better look, Ooishi tugged at the collar of Tezuka's now very unkempt-looking shirt. There, right below the collar line, towards the back, were three small spots of what looked to be drops of blood. "Did you nick yourself or something?" Ooishi asked again, this time examining the left side of Tezuka's neck, but seeing nothing wrong with it, not even a red spot, Ooishi let go. "You've got spots of blood by the collar of your shirt," he added when Tezuka started tugging at his own shirt and craning his neck to look at the stains Ooishi was referring to.

Tezuka almost crossed his own eyes trying to look at the spots but when he did see them, his brows furrowed in thought. He had absolutely no idea how those got there. But at the state his hung-over mind was in, it was too much effort to worry about the seemingly insignificant spots. He just shrugged his shoulders, "I probably just popped a weirdly placed pimple. Let's go have that tea and some breakfast. I need to feel human again."

TBC  
La Fuego  
11/23/2008

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I hope you enjoyed this installment. Thanks for reading and reviews will be deeply appreciated!


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